hi, i am looking at a 91 z28 around me and it looks great except there is a gap between the door and the fender on the passenger side. the guy told me it was never hit when he had it, and the owners before him said it was never hit. i asked the guy about it and he said the previous owners had continuously jacked it up in the wrong spot causing some damage to the roller rocker and therefore the gap. i just want to make sure that this isnt a bs story and can actually happen, opposed to him hiding that the car has been in an accident.
thanks

 

The front fenders bolt to a very thin piece of the body at the bottom. If a jack is used in this area it is possible to pull the fender in.... out..... or up and cause alignment problems. Lay down on the ground and look at where the fender meets the seam running along the bottom of the car. If that is folded over this is more than likely just from being jacked up in the wrong place. FYI if you end up buying the car whenever you take it to a shop make sure they know how to jack it up from the control arms or risk having a fender bent and a door tore up......

 

sounds like thats exactly what the problem is. does the fender sit out over the door? mine was like this, the bonehead previous owner jacked from this point. what your going to have to do is bent that lower portion back into place and it will pull the fender back into line. at work i would do this by putting a clamp on the rocker, chaining the car to the ground and then jacking the car up. but if you dont have access to that kinda stuff vice grips and a hammer also work well. ive done both ways and both work, just one is faster.
matt

 

thanks for the great hellp guys

 

absoulutely what happens. Especially when you get a flat in a field and the jack dosent fit under the exhaust
It is fixable though,
Mike

 

Good, the car I bought has flat spots on both sides. They have rust on them too. I better get on that.

 

yup mine were like that. I was able to pull them back straight then just fixed some of the surface rust. Its also a pain in the *** getting all 4 arms under my car when it doesnt clear the exhaust anymore. Only takes 3 points to lift a car, as long as they are balanced well. I will also just put the 4th arm under the passenger side sub frame connector a little farther down from the exhaust.

 

i had never seen a car so difficult to jack up or align on a lift till i bought my iroc. the exhaust is a bit*h. its very common to bend the so call "drip rail". i am guilt of it, as im sure others are as well

 

I would wonder why the previous owner had to jack it up so often ...

 

oil changes?

 

i tried to jack up my car that why cuz both of my manuals say thats where to do it! wrong! bent it like 3 times, the books are incorrect, i found out from the boards that you always jack on the frame, k-member, arms, etc ...
btw, our cars are tuff to get up....

 

that's why i havent lowered my car...yet!

btw: i have an iroc and a 84 z28, both has the "jacked-wrong"-syndrome...

 

"jacked-wrong"-syndrome...


good one!

 

i jack from under the springs. (the control arm? im a idiot )

works pretty good!

dont jack from the diff. Some moron did that to my iroc and now my diff is leaking. The cover is bent to crap

 

Improper jacking can ruin a car. I accidently put a stand jack through the rear floor of my '89 Escort. Didn't fix it right, just pounded the floor panel back with a hammer, but one of these days, someone will fall through the floor.